Serendipity
by SuperGravyMan
Summary: Music brings people together. Beyond that, who knows where you'll go? Featuring songs by The Dunwells. F/F


Serendipity

** Hello, people who don't really care what I say here! I just wanted to delay your reading of the actual story a bit to mention that, for one, I'm back, secondly, this story is set in North Carolina because of randomness, and finally, this story did feature the songs of one of my new most favorite bands, The Dunwells (known in the story as Connect 3 because they fit & I know they irritate people.) Specifically, I intended to use 'Elizabeth', 'So Beautiful', and 'Dance With Me'. The lyrics have been edited out, since it is apparently against the rules for me to use them. I will tell you that you can find live versions of the songs on YouTube, and the actual versions in the album on Amazon. I mainly wrote this because lots of people I know, myself included, have been kinda down lately, so I hope this brings you some happiness. Enjoy!**

** Disclaimer: I don't own this any more than I own social skills or a craving for Nutella. Tried it recently, don't really get the hype. Anyway, the point is, not mine.**

There seemed to be so much more homework this year compared to the last, nineteen-year-old Mitchie Torres thought as she pushed open the door to the campus coffee shop. People always said college was so much harder than high school, but she hadn't really felt the strain her freshman year. Now, a mere year later, she was finding out that college could really suck at times. At least she'd have her favorite coffee to keep her company well into what was sure to be a long night of studying.

It was when she took her first break, stopping half an hour in to her study session to eat some of the giant, crumbly chocolate scone she'd ordered with her coffee, that she truly realized there was live music playing on the other side of the rather large shop. When she took the time to listen in, she was surprised to find that, for a college band, the guys were rather good. Her mind itched at her to keep listening, but she internally shouted it down, forcing herself back to the neglected homework, albeit at a slightly quicker pace.

A couple hours later found the mostly finished homework abandoned back in Mitchie's backpack, the girl herself having joined the small, but growing crowd in front of the band.

_Elizabeth by The Dunwells_

"Thanks for comin' out guys, we're Connect 3, and it's been nice playing for you." The singer nodded to them all after finishing his last song, shooting them a quick salute as he backed away and turned to his band-mates to help them gather their equipment.

Mitchie found she couldn't help herself from going up to them as they packed up. "Excuse me?" she interrupted, tapping the singer on the shoulder.

"Oh, hey, can I help you?"

"Well, you know, I just wanted to let you guys know that I really enjoyed your performance."

"That's great, considering this was the first time we'd ever done it." The curly-haired drummer laughed.

"No way!" Mitchie almost shouted in her surprise.

The singer rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, yeah. You see, my brothers, Nate and Jason," he pointed at the curly-haired one and the other, more gangly-looking one in turn, "and myself, I'm Shane, by the way. Anyway, we've all been practicing cover songs in our basement for years, but I wrote a bunch of songs about my last girlfriend, we made them into an album, and this one finally booked us a gig here." He threw an arm around the one he'd called Nate.

"That's awesome. You guys totally deserved a gig. Your music was great." Mitchie smiled at them, chuckling a bit when Jason blushed at the compliment. "I know it's your first show and all, but I don't suppose you've got any of your songs to sell yet?" She questioned hopefully, giving Shane and Nate her best big, pleading eyes."

"Ah, well, I don't really think we do..." Shane trailed off, looking to his brother. "You got anything, Nate?"

He pulled something out of the pocket of his jeans. "I do, in fact. Got all the songs on this flash drive here from our audition."

"Well, isn't that fortunate. I forget though, why did we need our own music, when we can play it any time we want?" Shane asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking at him.

"You know, I never really thought about it, but I guess we don't. And since we can't have good music going to waste," He placed the drive in Mitchie's hands, "I think that means you should have it."

Mitchie's face lit up, her ears seemingly tugging the sides of smile further apart as she looked up at them and back to her hands a few times. "You guys would really just give it to me?"

They exchanged a glance before Shane answered. "I'd say nothing's too good for our first real fan."

"Definitely, gotta start building the fan base somewhere, and we might as well make it special." Nate added.

Mitchie squealed, hugging both of the boys and thanking them profusely. When she'd finished thanking them, she stood there awkwardly for a moment, not knowing what to do next. They were just watching her, still smiling warmly as she backed away, thanking them one last time before hurrying back to her previously occupied table.

After she'd finished transferring her newly acquired music onto her phone, Mitchie threw in her headphones and headed out the door, singing along as she walked back to her dorm room in the darkness.

_'So Beautiful' by The Dunwells_

"Aaaah!" She screamed as she felt a hand on her shoulder, jumping out of her skin and landing the opposite way, facing her assailant. Behind her she found another girl, seemingly around her age, white top standing out in darkness. She had her hands raised in surrender.

"Don't hurt me! Not trying to kill you!" She pleaded quickly, and Mitchie calmed slightly, removing one of her headphones to hear better.

"Sorry for scaring you, but you really freaked me out there." She apologized to the unknown girl.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for scaring you too. I was just wondering, was that a Connect 3 song you were singing?"

"It was, actually. How did you hear of them? They told me tonight was their first ever public performance."

"You were at Java City too? I don't remember seeing you there... Come to think of it I don't remember seeing their merchandise either, so maybe I'm just spacing out tonight."

"I was there, but I don't remember seeing you. We must have just missed each other. They didn't actually have any CDs for sale, but I went up and talked to them after the show, and the drummer guy, Nate, just gave it to me."

"No way!" The other girl nearly shrieked. "So that must mean you've got, like, the only copy of it outside of the band themselves!"

Mitchie's eyes widened in realization. "Wow, I guess I do." She nodded.

"You have to let me listen to it with you, please please please."

"Well, I mean, I don't even know your name yet..."

"Alex Russo! I'm Alex Russo, I'm a freshman, I'm from here in Raleigh, I live in Jones Hall, and I have two other brothers that go here too. Anything else you wanna know?" She finished, breathing a little heavier after her rant.

"I... I guess not." Mitchie stuttered, a little in shock from all the information. She shook her head to clear it. "We could head back to your room, if you wanted to get your computer so I could give you the songs."

"No, no. I'll find them at their next gig for that. Nothing against you, I just really want the experience of actually getting it from them, you know?"

Mitchie nodded, remembering her own experience from earlier. "Alright, so, what would you want to do then?"

"Do you think we could just head back to your room and listen to it there?" Alex asked, looking up at her with the pleading eyes she'd used so well herself. Mitchie quickly found she was no more resistant to them then the boys had been.

"Oh, all right then. Follow me." She turned, waving her arm forward.

! #$%^&*()_+

"Apparently, that night they bonded over your music and became the best of friends, and that eventually turned into a _romantic_ kind of thing." Shane looked up at his brothers with a chuckle. "And now, five years later, they're sending us this to invite us to their wedding in a couple of months."

"Why'd you skip ahead so much?" Jason asked, looking up at him from where he was upside-down on the couch. "You went through all the details when we were in it, and then we just get the skim version of their big love story?"

"Well... I mean... It's a long letter! Here, read it yourself if you're so interested. Didn't wanna read the whole thing out loud anyway."

"Oh...So that's it, you lazy bugger." Jason laughed, avoiding Shane's attempted smack and rolling onto the floor with the letter.

"You know what we should do?" Nate asked, breaking his thoughtful silence from the recliner in the room's corner. "We should go there and play them a special concert, put on a big wedding for them, the whole nine yards."

"Why should we go to all that trouble for a couple of girls we haven't seen in years?" Shane wondered.

"Just get off your lazy ass and help us do this for once. They were our first real fans." Jason chided him, looking briefly up from his reading.

"Yeah, plus they just made it legal for them to even get married, so it'll make a big statement if a big band like us is out publicly supporting them. We get a lot of publicity, they get the wedding of their dreams, and non-traditional marriage gets a big boost of support. Everybody wins here."

Shane looked up through his bangs from where he'd flopped on the couch to see both his brothers staring at him expectantly. "Oh, alright then! Just, go about your business, let me be already." He grumbled, making them chuckle at him.

! #$%^&*()_+

"Alright, this one goes out to our oldest fans, Mitchie and Alex, as they celebrate their first dance as... uh... Mutual wives!" Shane yelled excitedly in the microphone, causing the girls in question to face-palm slightly at his awkward word choices.

_'Dance With Me' by The Dunwells_

"Guys, I can't believe you did all this!" Mitchie shrieked excitedly, running up and grabbing Shane in a big hug around his neck, Alex grabbing Nate and Jason in a group hug. The girls looked up at each other, raising their eyebrows, and combined their hug into one giant embrace, squeezing the band as hard as they could.

"Ladies...um...can't breathe." Jason managed to squeak out, and they were finally released.

"Sorry," Mitchie apologized with a smirk that suggested exactly the opposite meaning, "We were just _so _excited to see you guys again after all you'd done for us, I guess we couldn't help ourselves. Right Alex?"

"Definitely. You guys deserve, like, the biggest thanks ever. I'm still in shock all of this is even happening, and I'm already married." She laughed.

"I'm just glad you girls are happy. It's nice that we got to be with you all through your relationship, even if it was just our music." Nate smiled back.

"Yeah! I really wish we would have known you guys better sooner! You're so cute together!" Jason awwwed, clasping his hands together and staring at them with big eyes.

"Dude, cut it out, that's kinda creepy." Shane knocked his shoulder. "It is cool you're still together after all this time though. It's really amazing that songs I wrote all the way back in my relationship led to yours."

**So, what do you think about the whole 'love story without a love story in it' thing going on here? Or what do think about the music? Got a deep, unreasonable hatred for one of the characters? Let me know about it!**


End file.
